Chapter 149: 149

149 "Put it down, my knife is only for lending, not for sale."

Wang Xin was born with auspicious fortune, but if he keeps getting this fat, his fortune will overflow; once that breach appears, it won't be stoppable.

As the saying goes, pull one hair and move the whole body; moreover, the Wang family has now boarded the Lu family's ship.

Although the ship's captain appears to be the Lu family, it goes without saying who is really at the helm.

Naturally, Tushan Jiu takes a liking to those who pick a side and stand firm; otherwise she wouldn't have tipped them toward the Wang family in the first place.

In one morning, she lent out three knives—not a slow pace.

She had six knives in total, with three left that she took elsewhere.

She stood up, bundled the red cloth, and was about to leave.

Wang Xin blinked, "Ah, sis-in-law, are you leaving?"

Tushan Jiu nodded, "Yeah, I'm going elsewhere to stroll around and see if there's anyone fated."

"Then I'll accompany you, sis-in-law—I'll drive." His grandparents' home is some distance from this square; he's lazy, didn't want to walk that far, so he drove over and then kept the elders company walking in the park.

Tushan Jiu shook her head to decline his kindness, "Keep the elders company; my driver is waiting in the parking lot—keep up the good work."

Wang Xin nodded seriously; although a healthy diet is painful, it's still better than taking medicine, since taking medicine also subjects the body to suffering.

What's more, their circle now circulates a saying.

Not heeding the sis-in-law's words brings loss right before one's eyes.

Of course, this sis-in-law refers only to Tushan Jiu.

He even felt that Tushan Jiu is his benefactor for this lifetime.

Oh, no, there's also Xie Jingzhou and Xie Jingting—they're the same.

Without them, he wouldn't have met Tushan Jiu.

Those around, seeing Tushan Jiu about to leave, the interested ones asked if they could still borrow knives.

Tushan Jiu said no.

A few people still felt regretful.

But sometimes, when opportunity lies before you, hesitation means loss and won't come again.

Tushan Jiu left the park and returned to the car.

She told the driver to keep heading west.

They arrived at the next park.

In the same way, she casually found a bench, laid out the knives, and lowered her head to play on her phone.

As soon as she opened her phone, a call came in.

It was Li Nanqing.

She tapped to answer, "Hey, Sister Nanqing."

"Xiao Jiu, A Cheng's already discharged; the two of us want to treat you to a meal to express our thanks, and also figure out what our payment is—I'll get ready and bring it over together."

"I'm in Xicheng District now—let's have lunch together at noon; you pick the place, send me the location once decided; as for the payment, let's make it 88,000—auspicious."

Li Nanqing paused, "Eighty‑eight thousand…… won't that be too little? If it weren't for you, I can't even imagine what state A Cheng would be in now."

Tushan Jiu chuckled lightly, "Sister Nanqing, you know how much I eat; over four years I've hardly gone without your aunt's refreshing cucumbers—88,000 is enough."

After a two‑second silence on Li Nanqing's end, her voice choked up, "Thank you, Xiao Jiu."

The call ended.

Tushan Jiu lowered her head and kept playing the game.

As soon as she opened the game, she heard an argument not far away.

Tushan Jiu looked over—it was two men.

The louder they argued, and within seconds they actually started fighting.

Tushan Jiu understood: the two men were opposite‑door neighbors.

The man in gray's wife had given birth, but though the couple were single‑eyelid, yellow‑skinned, the baby came out plump white with double eyelids and big eyes.

Moreover, comparing all relatives on both sides of the couple's families, no such recessive gene existed.

So the man demanded his wife take a DNA test, but her stance was: she'd do it, but if the test showed the child was his, they'd divorce.

His wife's attitude was firm, so the gray‑clothed man stopped bringing it up.

But once the seed of doubt is planted, it persists.

The gray‑clothed man began suspecting everywhere; his brothers joked, wondering if the neighboring Old Wang had stolen their home.

As it turned out, he really recalled that the neighbor next door seemed especially fair‑skinned and also had double‑eyelid, big eyes.

So he often tailed him secretly, hoping to snatch a hair for a clandestine test.

But he used a bit too much force—yanking off the other man's toupee in one grab.

The other man was just about to go on a blind date, having finally styled his hair handsomely; when asked why, hearing such a ridiculous reason, could he still tolerate it?

Then the two started arguing, and in the end they came to blows.

However, there were still plenty of people around; several warm‑hearted old men and women pulled the two apart.

Apart from some disheveled clothing, neither showed any visible injury.

They kept trading insults, but Tushan Jiu felt there was nothing worth watching—this world daily stages plenty of mix‑ups and misunderstandings, nothing unusual.

She lowered her head, reopened the game, and began playing.

As a game round was about to end, she sensed someone approaching.

She lifted her gaze—it was exactly the gray‑clothed man from just before.

In this square's resting spots, seats are spaced apart, with only two facing benches.

He sat down on the bench opposite Tushan Jiu.

He rubbed his face, the man clutching his head with both hands, looking extremely annoyed.

In his peripheral vision he saw several knives placed on the red cloth opposite, then he followed his gaze upward.

He discovered it was a girl.

Moreover, that girl was still looking at him.

He felt embarrassed, knowing he had said many embarrassing things when he was agitated just now.

But he couldn't control himself; he had been feeling stifled for too long.

However, after this commotion, he actually felt relieved.

At least the man next door wasn't.

Forget it, let's look again.

The man took a deep breath, then exhaled.

He stood up to leave.

But he suddenly remembered that the kitchen knife at home was dull, and he couldn't be bothered to find a place to sharpen it.

He turned his head to look at Tushan Jiu.

He walked over, squatted down, and wanted to pick up that knife to have a look.

"Put it down, this knife of mine is only for lending, not for selling."